Please read the rest of the story below which was culled from Punch Newspaper.
CHAIRMAN of the House of Representatives Committee on the probe of fuel subsidy mismanagement, Mr. Farouk Lawan, said on Sunday that the video purportedly showing him receiving a bribe from an oil marketer was doctored.
The Lawan committee, which discovered
that subsidy thieves had stolen N1.7trn from government coffers as a
direct consequence of malpractices in the oil sector, had been embroiled
in bribery scandal since last week.
A video recording of the bribe deal
between the oil marketer and the lawmaker is believed to be in the
possession of the State Security Service.
However, Lawan said that the allegation
that he collected $600,000 from the oil marketer to influence the
report of the House probe panel was a ploy to divert attention from the
recommendations of the committee.
The Rep at a press briefing in Abuja on
Sunday said, “I categorically deny that I or any member of the committee
demanded and received any bribe from anybody in connection with the
fuel subsidy probe and I believe that this is evident from the thorough
and in-depth manner the investigation was carried out.
“The present mudslinging is not
unexpected in view of the calibre of people whose actions and inactions
were found wanting in the report.
“I am aware that in their desperation to
discredit the report and divert attention of the public from the real
issues of large scale fraud in high places established in the report, a
video footage displaying a caricature of my person allegedly having a
dealing with a marketer, reminiscent of the military era when
dignitaries were invited to the villa to watch a video clip of a phantom
coup involving Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is already in circulation.”
No comments:
Post a Comment